Jennifer Whiteside is a Canadian politician and

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. She represents the electoral district of

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

as a member of the

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social-democratic provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. As of 2017, it governs the province. It is the British Columbia provincial arm of the federal New Democrati ...

. Prior to her election, Whiteside held a variety of positions within the labour movement, most recently serving as the Chief Spokesperson and Secretary-Business Manager of the

Hospital Employees' Union The Hospital Employees' Union (HEU), founded in 1944 at Vancouver General Hospital, is now the oldest and largest trade union for hospital workers and health care specialists in British Columbia. The HEU represents 46,000 members across the public, ...

from 2015 to 2020 and as a researcher with the Conseil provincial des affaires sociales and the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workpl ...

Political career

Whiteside was elected MLA for

on October 24, 2020 with 60% of the popular vote, replacing out-going MLA

Judy Darcy Judy Darcy (born 1950) is a Canadian health care advocate, trade unionist, and former politician. Darcy was the first Minister of Mental Health and Addictions of British Columbia. She was the fourth National President of the Canadian Union of P ...

, who was also previously the Secretary-Business Manager for the

before her election. On November 26, 2020, Whiteside was appointed Minister of Education in the second cabinet of Premier

John Horgan John Joseph Horgan (born August 7, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 36th premier of British Columbia from 2017 to 2022, and also as the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2022. Horgan has been the ...

Election results

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
- Jennifer Whiteside 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Women government ministers of Canada Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Women MLAs in British Columbia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Education ministers of British Columbia {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub